hi everyone,
i’m going to be a senior this fall (yay!!) and i just planned my senior schedule, but i’m wondering if i should drop my only extracurricular at school for the most rigorous classes i can get
here’s the projected schedule:
ap literature
ap biology
ap government (1 semester)
economics (we don’t have ap, unfortunately) (1 semester)
ap calculus ab (if i get in …)
ap spanish
i am currently in the school orchestra. first chair cello. the only problem is that the group hardly merits as an orchestra- we can barely play in tune, can’t count, etc…it’s bad- and i don’t really count me being principal cellist as a real leadership position.
however, it is my only ec within the school. i do a lot of chamber music outside of school, which are all more enriching than the school orchestra.
i’m debating whether to drop school orchestra and focus more on outside chamber music this senior year. i’m kind of scared that my senior year schedule will drive me crazy and orchestra will not help that at all
Colleges wouldn’t know that your orchestra is “bad” - unless you flat out write that your orchestra is bad, so it doesn’t matter how bad you say your orchestra is.
Likewise, if you have an extremely difficult senior schedule, there’s still a chance that your schedule will “drive you crazy”. All of the AP courses that you listed above are core AP courses; you may find them manageable but you’ll probably be given A LOT of work. If you drop orchestra and replace it with ANOTHER rigorous course, you may crash - and you don’t want that. I don’t know what kind of work you can handle, so you have to assess this yourself.
Are you saying that your schedule will drive you crazy b/c you dislike orchestra class? Or is it dealing with school orchestra AND chamber orchestra?
Anyways, what I see here is that you still have a way to pursue music outside of school (chamber orchestra) - so if school orchestra is really that unbearable for you, then you would still be able to continue your ECs.
Are you contemplating dropping school orchestra?
I wouldn’t, even if it’s bad, because colleges like to see involvement both inside and outside the school, and if that’s your only “inside the school” EC, then you have to stick it out. BTW, colleges wouldn’t know the orchestra’s bad.
@MYOS1634@noemii i am technically part of my school’s robotics team, but i havent been donating a lot of time to it because of cello/academics.
i am unsure of re auditioning for the school orchestra because i know it is difficult for me to wake up at 6:30am (orchestra is 7-8am), and i would not be getting a lot of sleep anyways. i thought dropping the class would reduce my stress
I agree that 7-8 am is too early for music (or class) :s It sounds that you’ve made up your mind and want to be reassured it won’t cause something catastrophic.
It won’t… but you DO need an “in-school” activity.
@MYOS1634 thank you so much…the orchestra at my school doesn’t start until 2nd quarter, so i guess i will have time to think about if i can balance it with my academics. because aren’t academics more important? (i have heard many different answers on that so im not sure)
Yes, academics are more important. For colleges, ECs are cherry on the cake, not the cake - unless you’re state level at something (or national-level, or international-level). So do things because you like to do them.
Continue with cello, do robotics or something else (DO get involved with something at school, but if you’re a good player colleges will understand the time commitment it supposes so chose something fun.)
so im not sure)